February 6, 2018

‘New York Five’ Architect Endows New AAP Position

ByGloria Lee | February 6, 2018

Endowed by a preeminent architect of the “New York Five,” the Richard Meier Chair of the Department of Architecture will be occupied by Prof. Andrea Simitch ’79, architecture, the University announced Monday.

A member of a group of five New York City architects, whose work was photographed for a Museum of Modern Art display, Meier was a recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, one of the most prestigious in the architecture field.

According to Prof. Lily Chi, architecture, Simitch was given the position “for being, like Richard, the personification of Cornell’s historic excellence in architectural education.”

AAP dean Kent Kleinman said that Meier’s endowment “consummates a long relationship between the college and one of its most renowned graduates.”

In addition to regular contribution to the Cornell fund, Meier has also funded the Richard Meier Assistant Professorship in Architecture and two awards for graduate-level architecture students.

“Previous gifts [from Meier] have had tremendous, concrete impact on our programs in attracting talented faculty and students to Cornell,” Chi said. “His work has inspired generations of design students, including that of my own, so his acknowledgement and support of our work in the department is incredibly moving — a great inspiration in itself.”

Meier credits Cornell with providing him a “very good education.”

“Cornell’s school of architecture comes out on top in terms of undergraduate education in architecture and it deserves that recognition,” Meier said.

Meier said that he hopes “that the college of architecture will remain as strong [and] as good as it has been over the years.”

After working at different architectural firms for a few years, Meier began his own practice in 1963. Based in New York and Los Angeles, Richard Meier & Partners grew to become a renowned brand today in the field of architecture and has received 30 National Honor Awards and over 50 Regional Awards.

Some of the most prominent works of Meier include The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Jubilee Church in Rome and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona.

Related

This is the second part of a series delving deeper into the economic crisis and its effects on higher education, particularly at Cornell.

Despite having an “all-weather portfolio,” Cornell’s $6 billion endowment is not immune from the financial storm that is sweeping across the nation.
The endowment acts as a stable source of funds for the University, and nearly all of the money is invested long term. Cornell’s endowment makes up about 11 percent of the University’s revenue.

With recent debates in Washington over whether universities should be legally forced to spend more of their endowments, one cannot help but wonder how Cornell utilizes its $5.4 billion endowment, the 18th largest in the nation.
Under law, Cornell is not allowed to spend the principal value of the endowment, but can spend a portion of investment returns.
Nearly all of the $5.4 billion is invested, and after adjusting for inflation, a portion of investment returns are spent. This amount, called the payout, has been 5.1 percent of the value of the endowment on average over the past 10 years.
This figure is slightly higher than the five-percent minimum payout rate that legislation proposed last February by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).